Twitter Advertising Basics

Even though most small businesses in my circles advertise more on Facebook than Twitter, there are a significant amount of opportunities available to the small businesses who understand the best way to use Twitter’s advertising. Here is a 2-minute glimpse at the basics:

Set your goals and measure conversions.

Before you dig into the details of your website card, define the purpose or goals for your advertising and set up a website tag to help track the conversions. This will help you determine if your business is receiving the desired return.

Don’t assume people know you or what you do.

Use your ad content to quickly introduce who you are, what you do, how your product works and why it matters. You can use the image space to create a simple diagram or write a really concise sentence to communicate those details.

Ask a question.

Twitter’s ad data says that tweets which include a question receive 25% more clicks. Experiment with that idea and see how people respond to a question that aligns with one of the felt-needs your customers might have.

Create a clear target audience.

Use targeting to place your ad in front of men and/or women that meet your core customer age, demographics, locations, interests, and behaviors.

Try both automatic bidding and targeted bidding strategies.

Automatic bidding is the default that most small businesses will use. But don’t neglect the additional control you could have with targeted bidding strategies. It may cost you a little more (within 20% of your target cost-per-click), but will most likely result in more clicks. I wouldn’t recommend the maximum bidding strategy unless you just have cash to burn. Twitter’s bidding FAQ is a great resource.